Cats who escaped Yonkers massacre up for adoption

YONKERS, N.Y. -- Cats and kittens that apparently escaped a massacre in which the remains of 25 cats were found strung up in plastic bags hanging from a tree in Yonkers are nearly ready for adoption, the SPCA of Westchester County announced Tuesday.

"The cats and kittens had been living in squalid conditions in a back alley near the crime scene and have multiplied significantly in the last few months. They range from very friendly to feral," SPCA Executive Director Shannon Laukhuf said in a statement.

The surviving cats were found in April after someone discovered roughly 30 bags hanging from a tree in the woods off Overlook Terrace. Investigators determined the dead cats in the bags had been bludgeoned.

The case has gotten considerable publicity thanks, in part, to a member of the heavy metal/rock group Black Sabbath who offered a reward in the case and a larger reward from PETA.

The investigation into the killings is continuing. It's being led by Ernest Lungaro, director of the SPCA's Humane Law Enforcement Unit. Anyone with information is asked to call the unit's confidential hotline at 914-941-7797.

Yonkers recently earmarked $15,000 in the city budget for a trap, neuter and release program for stray cats in the city, a move hailed by the advocacy group Animal Defenders of Westchester, which said it had been pushing for the program even before the discovery.